Luke Warren of North Star Games took some time to answer questions in relation to the award winning Wits & Wagers. Normally we'd drone on to fill space but in this case we're going to please laziness and just furnish you with the Q&A. we can't promise we'll be this concise every time, so, don't get too content me bucko!
Now, on with the Q&A:
SPEWGILIST.COM: Congratulations on winning the 2008 Spewgie for Best Family Game. Can you share with us your latest news?
Luke Warren: The Xbox Live Arcade version of Wits & Wagers came out last Wednesday. We are very excited about that and hope it will boost sales of the board game. Say Anything, our next party game (kind of a combination of Wits & Wagers and Apples to Apples) comes out at Origins. You ask a question from a card such as "What is the most overrated band of all time?" or "What is the worst thing to say to a cop after being pulled over?" The other players then write an answer. Next, you secretly chose the best answer out of those given, and then everyone else bets on what answer they think you picked.
We have played and tested this game with hundreds of people, and the result is always the same: massive amounts of laughter and craziness - an off the hook good time. A perfect party game.
SPEWGILIST.COM: Give us a 15 second overview of Wits & Wagers.
Luke Warren: Wits & Wagers is a trivia game for people who do not know stuff. Everyone takes a wild guess at a question to which no one will likely know the answer. Then everyone bets on which guess is closest to the correct answer. Knowing the expertise of your friends helps you figure out on whose answer to bet. Bet correctly and get a fat payout in poker chips. After seven questions, the person with the most chips wins.
SPEWGILIST.COM: If you had to pick one thing that sets Wits & Wagers apart in it's genre, what would that be?
Luke Warren: The brilliant part is in mixing two things people love - gambling and trivia - into one game. Seriously, anyone can win this game, even the most trivia challenged. That is why Wits & Wagers has won all these awards and gets such rave reviews.
SPEWGILIST.COM: Talk to us a little about how Wits & Wagers has done versus your expectations.
Luke Warren: Getting into Target last year, getting an Xbox version so quickly, interest from European companies in licensing Wits & Wagers, winning more awards than any party game in history, and now a Spewgie! - all of these things are putting Wits & Wagers on a growth track none of us could have expected.
SPEWGILIST.COM: Where can people buy the award winning Wits & Wagers?
Luke Warren: The game is available at Target, a few Gottschalks stores in CA, hobby and game stores, and from e-tailers like Target.com, Amazon.com, ToysRus.com, Funagain.com, and probably a few other sites.
If people want to write reviews of our game on any of the e-tailers sites, please do, especially good reviews!. The more people talk about the game, the more attention it gets. This is really helpful to us since we are just a couple of people working out of a basement. Of course, singing our praises on blogs such as the Spewgilist or the Geek helps. The best way to advertise our game is to play it with friends. When people play this game they love it.
SPEWGILIST.COM:Any update plans for Wits & Wagers?? New edition, special edition, expansion, etc?
Luke Warren: We are hoping to release 'Travel Trivia' closer to Christmas. This will be a stand alone trivia game that you can take on the road, but the questions will work as an expansion pack for Wits & Wagers. Two for the price of one! Such a deal!
SPEWGILIST.COM:What's been the biggest surprise in 2007/2008 about Wits & Wagers?
Luke Warren: Consistently good sales, even in a crappy economy. But board games are good value for money, so maybe the economic downturn will help sales in a bizarre way.
SPEWGILIST.COM:Tell us about the biggest challenge in 2007/2008 for North Star Games.
Luke Warren: The release of Say Anything will take most of our time, trying to build buzz around it, push it into as many retailers as possible, and get enough sales in the Target test stores that Target decides to carry it nationwide. That being said, we think this game could be more popular than Wits & Wagers because it is more of a pure party game and everyone that plays it loves it. That includes retailers, distributors, and gamers. But most of all, even our staunchest non-gamer friends love it, so we have high hopes this game will be a smash.
For the long term, we want to increase mass market consciousness of Wits & Wagers and North Star Games, and that entails building more brand awareness, identity, and loyalty.
SPEWGILIST.COM: Where will folks be able to see you next? Conventions, events, play-day, etc?
Luke Warren: Origins, GenCon, WBC. We will be running game shows of Wits & Wagers and introducing Say Anything to the gaming hordes at these cons. Hope to see you there! And if you come to our booths and events, you might win enough North Star Games funny money to buy one of our games for free! And who does not love free?
SPEWGILIST.COM: Can you share with us any plans for North Star Games?
Luke Warren: World domination - at least in the niche of creating games that gamers will want to and can play with their non-gaming friends. That means making well-designed games that have enough gaming elements to interest gamers but are simple, fun, fast and light enough that non-gamers will like them.
SPEWGILIST.COM: Any final thoughts?
Luke Warren: After we take over the world, we want Spewgilist.com to be the Minister of Information. Are you with us?
SPEWGILIST.COM: With you? HELL YEAH! Finally people will learn the truth about everything we care to fabricate.
Thanks Luke for taking the time to answer our questions and we look forward to seeing you at Origins 2008.